Anne Arundel County

Anne Arundel County is generally a favorable jurisdiction for Maryland accident lawyers and medical malpractice attorneys to take to trial personal injury cases. Admittedly, the personal injury verdicts for motor vehicle accidents or medical malpractice do not tend to be as high as in Baltimore City or Prince George's County, but verdicts over the last several years have steadily increased. Our law offices are in Anne Arundel County, and we handle a significant number of cases in this jurisdiction every year.

If you have a serious injury case in Anne Arundel County, you are likely going to end up in Circuit Court in Annapolis if you file a lawsuit. The purpose of this page is to give injury victims some idea of what they can expect if they file a lawsuit in Anne Arundel County. You can learn more about the process in general elsewhere. This page focuses on the path to trial that is specific to Anne Arundel County.

The Scheduling Conference

More than most other jurisdictions, Anne Arundel County focuses on helping the parties in personal injury cases reach a settlement before trial. The case management system in place for auto accident cases, in particular, allows for several opportunities where the parties meet to discuss settlement.

Shortly after a personal injury case is filed, the court sets a scheduling conference where the court establishes dates by which discovery, motions, and other events must occur. Typically, although the case is in the very early stages of discovery, the judge handling a personal injury scheduling conference will briefly discuss settlement with the parties.

Settlement Conference

At the scheduling conference, the parties are usually ordered to attend a settlement conference after the close of discovery. This settlement conference is handled by an experienced personal injury lawyer in Anne Arundel County. This lawyer serves as a mediator between the two parties in the personal injury cases. These settlement conferences are very helpful in getting the parties in an auto accident case to reach a settlement.

Jury Verdicts in Anne Arundel County

Below are some recent jury verdicts and settlements in Anne Arundel County. These cases were picked at random. Some are our cases, others are cases handled by lawyers we know or from jury verdict reports. These verdicts might shed some light on the value of your Anne Arundel County claim. But keep in mind they also might mislead you because it is impossible to summarize all of the relevant facts of a case in a single paragraph. The failure of success of these cases might have hinged on a fact completely unrelated to the facts set out in these descriptions.

2016: $154,658 Verdict. A 44-year-old nurse is driving her vehicle when defendant crosses the centerline and enters her lane, resulting in a collision. The woman suffers permanent injuries from fractured ribs, a toe dislocation, a toe fracture, a right tibia fracture, a phalanx fracture, and injuries to her abdomen, hands, knees, and arm. She files this claim against the defendant alleging that he caused the collision, and the defendant disputed the extent of the woman’s injuries. A jury awarded the plaintiff $154,658.

2016, $129,979 Verdict. A woman is driving her vehicle when she begins to slow down before making a left turn. The vehicle behind her, being driven by defendant, fails to stop and strikes her vehicle. She suffers a permanent TMJ injury and injuries to her head, neck, and back. The woman files this lawsuit alleging the defendant failed to maintain control and attention to the roadway, resulting in the collision. The plaintiff also alleges the defendant was on the cell phone at the time of impact. The defendant disputed all the claims. A jury awards the woman $129,979.

2016: $81,034 Verdict. A woman stops her vehicle prior to making a left-hand turn when defendant rear-ends her. She sustains permanent injuries included left arm numbness, dizziness, headaches, and injuries to her head, neck, left shoulder, arm, and fingers. She claims the defendant was negligent in failing to keep a proper lookout and in failing to yield the right of way. The defendant disputed the nature and extent of the woman’s injuries as well as the reasonableness of her medical care. A jury finds the defendant liable and awards the plaintiff $81,034.

2016: $76,583 Verdict. A woman is operating her vehicle when she stops for traffic. Defendant, operating his vehicle behind her, fails to stop and collides with the plaintiff’s vehicle. The woman suffers cervical radiculopathy and cervical spondylosis as a result of the collision. The defendants dispute the claims and argue that the woman’s injuries were pre-existing. A jury awards the plaintiff $76,583. The defendant filed a motion for new trial but it was denied.

2015: $2,520,869 Verdict. A woman is under the treatment of defendants due to cauda equine syndrome. She is examined without any diagnostic testing or ER consultation. The defendants fail to diagnose her and fail to perform surgical decompression. As a result, she suffers sexual dysfunction, neurogenic bladder, constipation, and numbness. The defendants argue she was treated within the standard of care, but a jury awarded the woman $2,520,869. This was reduced per the non-economic damages state cap, to $1,200,869.

2015: $300,634 Verdict. A woman is driving her vehicle when she stops at a stop sign. Defendant, traveling behind her, fails to stop and rear ends her vehicle. She suffers a fracture of her left occipital condyle, headaches, and injuries to her neck and back as a result. She files a claim against the defendant alleging negligence and the failure to keep a proper lookout and excessive speed. The defendant disputed the woman’s claims and the reasonableness of her medical treatment. A jury awarded the plaintiff $300,634.

2015: $185,000 Verdict. A woman undergoes a mammogram and ultrasound after discovering a mass in her right breast. The radiologist indicates there is no sign of malignancy. Over a three year period the defendants fail to order any additional testing of the mass. However, she is eventually diagnosed with extensive high grade ductal carcinoma in her right breast, requiring extensive treatment including a bilateral mastectomy. The woman files this claim alleging the failure to diagnose breast cancer in a timely condition, and a jury awarded her $185,000.

2014, Maryland: $344,400 Verdict. Plaintiff, a 23-year-old utility meter reader, attempts to make a left-hand turn into a driveway from the travel lane of Ft. Smallwood Road. The Defendant, attempting to pass Plaintiff does so over the yellow line, strikes Plaintiff’s vehicle causing them both to overturn. Plaintiff suffers head, neck, back and shoulder injuries, as well as facial scarring requiring surgery. Plaintiff misses nine months of work, as well faces possible future facial plastic surgery. Plaintiff files suit against the State Farm insured Defendant, who claims that the Plaintiff had veered his car to the right, as if to make a right turn, before suddenly swerving left. An independent witness disagrees, and so does the jury. On damages, State Farm was probably emboldened by the fact that the treating doctors and testifying experts were a doctor from Multi-Speciality Health Care, a common provider for personal injury cases that gets most of its referrals from personal injury lawyers. But, in this case, even State Farm's orthopedic expert, Dr. Mark S. Rosenthal was supportive of the case to the point where the plaintiff used his videotape deposition in their case-in-chief.

2013: Malpractice Verdict for $8,344,514. A 42-year-old has an upper GI endoscopy and colonoscopy performed in Glen Burnie by a gastroenterologist and a GI technician. She goes into respiratory and/or cardiorespiratory arrest after her colon ruptures and she develops cerebral hypoxic-ischemia (loss of oxygen to the brain). She dies two weeks later. Her family's wrongful death lawsuit alleges that defendants screwed up the anesthetic and compounded the error by failing to monitor her for a colon perforation and all of the signs of distress.

Our law firm's office is in Anne Arundel County where we have fought and won millions of dollars for our clients. If you need an attorney to fight for you in a serious injury case, call us at 800-553-8082 or get a free on-line injury claim evaluation.

2013: Motor Vehicle Crash Settlement for $290,000. A 40-year-old woman suffers a disc injury in her lower back at L5 after a rear-end accident coming off the Beltway towards Glen Burnie. Her MRI is negative but during surgery her surgeon finds the source of the problem: a bone fragment intruding on a disc that the MRI did not catch. The case settled during a private mediation with GEICO and State Farm, the two defendants in the case. Miller & Zois handled this case.

If the case does not settle at the settlement conference, the parties must attend a pretrial conference. While it depends on the judge you draw, the judges in Anne Arundel County go to great lengths to help the parties settle personal injury cases at the pretrial. Unlike most other counties where the pretrial conference is just a meeting between counsel where a trial date is given, the Anne Arundel County judges do spend a great deal of time trying to get cases settled if there is any opportunity to do so.

If the case does not settle at the pretrial conference, the judge will give the parties a date for trial, typically within 90 days. Most counties have a "try by" date before which the case must be tried. Anne Arundel County takes this date more seriously than most and will not allow for delays beyond the "try by" date. So there are less endless delays to justice in Anne Arundel County than in a lot of other jurisdictions.

Talking to Us About Your Potential Case

Our car accident and medical malpractice lawyers handle a substantial number of our personal injury cases in Glen Burnie, Annapolis, Crofton, Pasadena, Severna Park, Gambrills, Severn, Millersville, Crownsville, and all other areas of Anne Arundel County. If you have been injured in an accident in and around Anne Arundel County, call us at 410-779-4600 or click here for a free consultation.

We serve the following localities: Baltimore; Prince George's County including Bowie, Laurel, Landover, Hyattsville; Anne Arundel County including Glen Burnie; Baltimore County including Cockeysville, Glyndon, Hunt Valley, Jacksonville, Lutherville-Timonium, Owings Mills, Parkville, Reisterstown, and Towson; Carroll County including Westminster; Frederick County including Frederick; Harford County including Abingdon, Bel Air, Belcamp, and Forest Hill; Montgomery County including Germantown and Rockville; Howard County including Ellicott City and Columbia, Washington, D.C. and Washington County including Hagerstown.